AstraZeneca and Bicycle Therapeutics announce new collaboration

AstraZeneca has announced a new drug research collaboration with the biotechnology company Bicycle Therapeutics.

The collaborative work will focus on the identification and development of bicyclic peptides for the treatment of respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. This novel class of small molecule medicines can potentially overcome many of the limitations of existing drugs.

Bicyclic peptides have been shown to exhibit the affinity and target specificity usually associated with antibodies, but in a small-molecule format, enabling rapid tissue penetration and more flexible routes of administration.

The agreement will see Bicycle Therapeutics working to identify peptides for an undisclosed number of targets specified by AstraZeneca, which will then be responsible for further development and product commercialisation.

If all planned programmes reach the market, Bicycle will be eligible to receive more than $1 billion (792.66 million pounds) in payments.

Menelas Pangalos, executive vice-president for the company's innovative medicines and early development biotech unit, said: "By combining the expertise and strengths of AstraZeneca and Bicycle Therapeutics, we are confident this collaboration will result in clinically important advances for patients suffering from respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases."

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